Indian filmmaker Amoghavarsha’s short video made for Australia Day captures the country in all its glory
Sometimes it takes someone from another country to show you just how great your own backyard really is.
Indian filmmaker Amoghavarsha’s four-minute video made for Australia Day does just that – capturing spectacular scenes of the country’s most loved national parks, bustling cities and sweeping beaches.
The 30-year-old, who was born in Bangalore, spent five weeks backpacking around Queensland, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania, covering 7000 kms to shoot the video last year.
“I have a lot of friends all across Australia so I planned it so that I could crash with friend’s — there are so many Indians in Australia it was easy,” said Amoghavarsha, who came to the country to take part in the government’s Australia India Youth Dialogue.
“I’ve not spent any money on staying in hotels at all. On the whole I spent not more than $600, just on transport and food,” he said.
Amoghavarsha said he heard about the 2009 attacks on Indian students in Melbourne, which received wide coverage in India, but didn’t let it put him off coming.
“It was actually very surprising as I’d read about the issues with Indian students facing issues [in Australia],” said Amoghavarsha, who is part of Bangalore-based production company Mudskipper. “I was slightly sceptical but when I went here I had a ball of a time,” he added.
“Even on Australia Day I did not see too many drunk people – people were drinking having a good time but there were no fights. People were very nice to me,” he said.
Amoghavarsha said he most enjoyed visiting Australia’s beaches.
“What really, really blew me away was the coast. Because in India we don’t have anything like that coast,” he said.
He said he also fell in love with the Aussie sense of humour.
The video was edited by Jyolsna Panicker and features music by Naveen Raja and Vynod Subramaniam.
Published in The Indian Sun (Indian Magazine in Australia)
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